Modern software development is evolving away from the client-server model toward network-based processing systems that provide access to data and services via the Internet or other networks. In contrast to traditional systems that host networked applications on dedicated server hardware, a “cloud” computing model allows applications to be provided over the network “as a service” supplied by an infrastructure provider. The infrastructure provider typically abstracts the underlying hardware and other resources used to deliver a customer-developed application so that the customer no longer needs to operate and support dedicated server hardware. The cloud computing model can often provide substantial cost savings to the customer over the life of the application because the customer no longer needs to provide dedicated network infrastructure, electrical and temperature controls, physical security and other logistics in support of dedicated server hardware.
Multi-tenant cloud-based architectures have been developed to improve collaboration, integration, and community-based cooperation between customer tenants without sacrificing data security. Generally speaking, multi-tenancy refers to a system where a single hardware and software platform simultaneously supports multiple user groups (also referred to as “organizations” or “tenants”) from a common data storage element (also referred to as a “multi-tenant database”). The multi-tenant design provides a number of advantages over conventional server virtualization systems. First, the multi-tenant platform operator can often make improvements to the platform based upon collective information from the entire tenant community. Additionally, because all users in the multi-tenant environment execute applications within a common processing space, it is relatively easy to grant or deny access to specific sets of data for any user within the multi-tenant platform, thereby improving collaboration and integration between applications and the data managed by the various applications. The multi-tenant architecture therefore allows convenient and cost effective sharing of similar application features between multiple sets of users.
Robust customer relationship management (CRM) systems and applications for managing contacts have been developed for use in the multi-tenant environment. Consequently, maintaining business and professional contact information has migrated from the Rolodex™ to the cloud. Commercial databases currently maintain millions—or even tens of millions—of business, professional, technical, and social contact entries. In a typical contact database environment, subscribers interrogate the database through structured searches using, for example, structured query language (SQL) formatted queries. Even though a relatively small amount of the contact data changes on a daily basis, for example, on the order of one to three percent, continuously or periodically processing a large number of standing queries on the changed data requires significant computing resources.
Systems and methods are thus needed for processing standing queries, also referred to as event streams, efficiently to conserve computational resources, to thereby keep pace with the need for real time or near real time searching of continuously updated contact data.